A tag generally refers to metadata which identifies a feature of a content item. In some traditional systems, a pre-established reference system governs the naming and application of the tags. More recently, systems have been developed that allow users to define their own tags in collaborative fashion, thereby creating a so-called folksonomy. A well known service that allows users to interact in a collaborative tagging environment is “del.icoi.us” (Delicious).
FIG. 1 describes certain features of a known collaborative tagging environment. In this system, assume that three representative users (user 1, user 2, and user n) have created user-defined tags to characterize two websites. A first website 102 contains information about a hypothetical Sedan-X manufactured by ABC Co. A second website 104 contains information about a hypothetical Sedan-Y manufactured by LMN Co. Assume that the first user defines a tag “Sedan-X” 106 to characterize the first website 102 and a tag “Sedan” 108 to characterize the second website 104. The second user defines a tag “Sedan-X” 110 to characterize the first website 102 (thereby agreeing with the first user), as well as a tag “Midsize” 112 to characterize the second website 104. The third user defines a tag “Sedan” 114 to characterize the first website 102 and a tag “4.0 Liter” 116 to characterize the second website 104. As can be appreciated, many additional users may also create tags to describe the first website 102 and the second website 104.
A tagging system can inform users of divergent vocabulary used to describe items. A tagging system can also notify users of commonly used tags. For example, the tagging system of FIG. 1 can inform the users that multiple users have applied the tag “Sedan” to characterize the first website 102. In this sense, when users annotate a particular item, they can be considered as voting on a particular interpretation of the item. However, the tagging system is not providing any insight here beyond providing a “flat” historical record of the tagging behavior of users. For this reason, it is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from this type of collection of tags.
For at least the above-identified reasons, there is a need for more satisfactory tagging systems.